Monday, December 10, 2012

Hunting is undeniably in vogue among the bearded, bicycle-riding,
locavore set. The new trend might even be partly behind a recent 9
percent increase from 2006 to 2011 in the number of hunters in the United States after years of decline. Many of these new hunters are taking up the activity for ethical and environmental reasons.

“It feels more responsible and ecologically sound
to eat an animal that was raised wild and natural in my local habitat
than to eat a cow that was fattened up on grain or even hay, which is
inevitably harvested with fuel-hungry machines,” writes Christie Aschwanden, a self-described “tree-hugging former vegetarian.”

A recent spate of books with titles like The Mindful Carnivore and Call of the Mild chronicles the exploits of these first-time hunters as they wrestle with their consciences and learn to sight in their rifles.

The expansion of hunting into liberal, urban circles is the latest
development in an evolving and increasingly snug coexistence between
humans and beasts in North America. Jim Sterba’s new book, Nature Wars,
examines the paradox of the rebound of many wild species, particularly
in the densely populated East Coast of the United States. Whitetail
deer, turkeys, Canada geese, black bears, and trees are all doing
wonderfully in 2012, thanks to conservation measures in the past and
vagaries of history and cultural change. The problem, Sterba says, is
that most modern North Americans have no idea what to do with these
species. We gawk and gape; we feed them doughnuts; we run into them with
our cars; we are surprised and alarmed by their messy habits and
occasional aggressiveness; we manage them all wrong; we want them gone
from our neighborhoods, but we abhor the idea of killing them.

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These pages are dedicated to the dissemination of Free Thought and the stimulation thereof. We are focused on the discussion of innovative, progressive and revolutionary ideas with topics ranging from politics to poetry, from science to religion.